Web Design in Hays, Kansas

Web design in Hays: reading the local market

Mining, oil and gas matter in Ellis County: 78 establishments with employees in the 2023 count, far more than the national share. Field crews need lodging, food and repairs fast. State clearly which areas and job sites you serve, your equipment and how to request work. The website is where that becomes a phone call or an email, so it pays to get the basics right.

In Hays, 9.9% of workers walk to their jobs and 0.0% take public transportation, far above most of the state. Customers on foot decide on the spot, often standing on the sidewalk. Give walking directions and the nearest transit stop on the contact page, plus a photo of the front.

A web designer’s view of Hays’ businesses

The Census counted 997 establishments with employees in 2023 in ZIP code 67601, which includes Hays and its surroundings. A sample of that count, and what each kind of business needs online:

• Hotels and motels: 16. Their website should show rooms, photos, location and a contact form, so travelers can compare you outside the booking apps.
• Auto repair shops: 15. Their website should show a page per service (brakes, A/C, diagnostics), the shop’s location and a quick contact form.
• Site preparation contractors: 10. Their website should show the equipment you run, the kinds of jobs you take and a contact form for builders and owners.
• Insurance agencies: 30. Their website should show the lines you write (auto, home, business, life), the carriers you work with and a quote request form.

Across Ellis County, County Business Patterns counted 1,110 employer establishments in 2023, and the Nonemployer Statistics add 2,893 businesses with no payroll, most of them self-employed owners. Retail trade accounts for 14.6% of the county’s employer establishments, ahead of construction (10.9%) and health care and social assistance (10.8%). Hays’ working residents are concentrated in education, health care and social assistance (34.8%) and retail trade (13.8%). Most of these businesses are small, and the website does the job a front desk would do in a bigger company.

Seasons in Hays, and what they do to your website

Climate normals for 1991-2020 from Hays, 1.1 miles away, put the July average high at 93°F and the January average low at 20°F. Precipitation totals about 25 inches a year, with July the wettest month. The high reaches 90°F or more on about 74 days a year, and the low falls to freezing or below on about 124 days. Winter changes what people need: snow removal, heating and ice-dam repairs in the cold months, yard work and construction once it thaws. Update the homepage before your busy season: send the changes by email a few weeks ahead.

The customers behind the numbers in Hays

Adults between 20 and 34 make up 29.0% of the population. Young adults compare a few options on a phone and pick fast; a slow or vague website loses them. Trips to work are short here: 81.8% take under 15 minutes. Short trips keep spending close to home, and customers pick the nearest business they can trust.

24.5% of workers are employed by a federal, state or local government (16.7% in Kansas). Public employees keep regular hours, and many book services around them.

Roots run deep here, with 74.6% of residents born in Kansas. When a neighbor recommends you, the website is where they confirm it.

A quick look at Hays, KS

Housing costs: a median home value of $225,500 and a median rent of $922 a month, against $217,200 and $1,060 in Kansas. Hays’ median age of 30.2 compares with 37.4 across Kansas. Hays counts 9,003 households; 58.5% own their home. At $58,459, Hays’ median household income sits about 21% under the Kansas figure ($74,275); customers here compare before they spend.

Census estimates put Hays at 21,159 in 2020 and 21,258 in 2025, a stable city. That compares with +1.3% for Kansas as a whole. In a stable market, reputation matters, and a website lets customers check yours at any hour.

Towns near Hays your website can name

Within a short drive of Hays you find Victoria (9.6 miles), Schoenchen (12 miles) and Ellis (13 miles). Hays covers 8.7 square miles of land, about 2,432 residents per square mile. The county government of Ellis County is in Hays, the county seat. Interstate 70 runs through the city. Customers in Victoria and Liebenthal will ask the same thing: do you work here? A service area page answers before they have to.

Your website for $89 a month, step by step

Aria is a web design company based in Curitiba, Brazil, building websites, online stores and business email since 2008. We don’t have an office in Hays: the whole process happens online, and the plan is the same $89 a month in any city.

1. Sign up online in about 5 minutes; the logo, photos and texts you already have go by email.
2. Within 5 business days the website is ready on a temporary link, and you review it and ask for changes.
3. Ask for adjustments by email, approve, and after the first monthly fee the site goes live on your domain.

Later on, you send changes by email (a new price, a new photo, a new service) and the team makes them, with no extra charge.

Rules that apply to a Hays business website

Selling or advertising online brings no special license, but these apply to most Hays businesses:

• Accessibility is a federal matter: the Justice Department’s ADA guidance covers the websites of businesses open to the public. ADA.gov guidance
• Fake or bought reviews are illegal under a federal rule in force since 2024 (16 CFR Part 465): post only real ones. 16 CFR Part 465
• Kansas levies a state sales tax of 6.5% on retail sales of tangible personal property and taxable services, and cities and counties add local sales taxes on top of it. Kansas Department of Revenue

This is general information, not legal advice; check with the Kansas agencies, Ellis County, the city of Hays or an attorney.